One of the features you’ve told us you want on Drive for iOS is the ability to effortlessly browse and preview files, just like you can on Android. Today’s update delivers that same card-style thumbnail layout, along with a number of other upgrades that make it even easier to use Drive on your iPhone or iPad.

You can toggle between the new thumbnail view and the traditional list view with just the press of a button. Plus, in this latest version of the app, files and folders are grouped more intuitively instead of being mixed together, and you can view and edit files in landscape mode.

It’s also now easier to copy the link for any Drive file (great for if you need to include it in an email, add it to a note, or text it to a friend). Just visit the details pane of the file you want and select ‘Get link’ to automatically copy the link to your clipboard. And while you're in the details pane, check out the other things you can do, like moving the file into one of your Drive folders or sharing it with a friend.

And last, we brought search to the forefront of the app so you can find the exact file you're looking for, whether you're on a small iPhone or a larger iPad. And remember, Drive search recognizes objects in your images and text in scanned documents. So the next time you’re looking for photos of that trip to the Statue of Liberty, just enter the phrase “Statue of Liberty” and your photos will appear – voilà!

Head over to the Apple App Store now to download the app and see it in action.

Notes are a good way to keep track of all you have to do, but most of us need a little nudge now and then. Google Keep can remind you of important tasks and errands at just the right time and place. For example, Keep works with Google Now to remind you of your grocery list when you walk into your favorite grocery store, and nudges you on Thursday night to take out the trash.

To get started, select the “Remind me” button from the bottom of any note and choose the type of reminder you want to add. You can add time-based reminders for a specific date and time, or a more general time of day, like tomorrow morning. Adding a location reminder is incredibly easy too – as soon as you start typing Google Keep suggests places nearby.

Of course, sometimes plans change. If you get a reminder you’re not ready to deal with, simply snooze it to a time or place that’s better for you. It’s now even easier to get to all of your notes using the new navigation drawer, which includes a way to view all of your upcoming reminders in one place. And for people who want more separation between their home and work lives, the drawer also lets you easily switch between your accounts.

And finally, we’ve made it easier to add your existing photos to a Google Keep note on Android. When you tap the camera icon you can choose between taking a new photo or adding one you already have from Gallery.

More often than not, you need to work with others to get things done. Today, working together in Drive is getting even easier with new profile pictures and one-click group chat.

Now when you open a file in Drive, you’ll see the profile pictures of other viewers at the top instead of just their names, making it easy for you to do a quick scan of who else is in the file. You can hover over a photo to see details about the viewer and add them to your circles on Google+ — all without ever leaving Drive.

In addition, you can now start a group chat with just one click. Simply select the new chat button at the top right and a chat box will appear, making it easy for you to quickly message everyone in the file.

These new features will roll out over the next day or two, and we’ll be adding support for more file types (like Google Sheets) soon, so stay tuned. In the meantime, visit our Google+ page and let us know what your favorite anonymous character is!

Every day we all see, hear or think of things we need to remember. Usually we grab a pad of sticky-notes, scribble a reminder and put it on the desk, the fridge or the relevant page of a magazine. Unfortunately, if you’re like me you probably often discover that the desk, fridge or magazine wasn’t such a clever place to leave the note after all...it’s rarely where you need it when you need it.

To solve this problem we’ve created Google Keep. With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.

If it’s more convenient to speak than to type that’s fine—Keep transcribes voice memos for you automatically. There’s super-fast search to find what you’re looking for and when you’re finished with a note you can archive or delete it.

Changing priorities isn’t a problem: just open Keep on your Android phone or tablet (there’s a widget so you can have Keep front and center all the time) and drag your notes around to reflect what matters. You can choose the color for each note too.

Google Keep is available on Google Play for devices running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and above. You can access, edit and create new notes on the web at http://drive.google.com/keep and in the coming weeks you'll be able to do the same directly from Google Drive.

It may sound obvious, but sometimes the best way to find something is to start looking. Beginning today, Google Drive will let you quickly preview more than 30 file types and quickly flip between files until you find the one you want.

You’ll see the new preview automatically if you open a photo, video, or PDF. To see a preview of a Google document, right-click on the file name and select “preview.” Once the preview window is open, you can click on the arrows on either side to flip to other files. And right from within the preview, you can watch video files or scroll through multi-page documents.

You can select and copy text from the preview -- even for a PDF or Microsoft Word document -- or use the zoom buttons to see a file in more detail. Each file preview also gives you one-click access to share, download, print or open a file for editing.

Good news, Slides lovers. You can now create, edit, comment and (perhaps most importantly) present without an internet connection—just like you can with Docs. Any new presentations or changes you make will be automatically updated when you get back online. So you can continue polishing slides on your next flight, and head to your upcoming presentation without worrying about whether there's going to be wifi.

If you already have offline editing for Docs enabled, you don’t have to change anything to work with Slides offline. If not, you can turn it on for Slides (and Docs) by following these instructions. Note that to work offline you’ll need to be using Chrome or ChromeOS.

We’re rolling this functionality out over the course of the day. And for those of you who use Google Sheets, we’re working to make offline spreadsheets available as well—stay tuned.

It’s a new year, which means new resolutions. If you’re up for saving time, money and trees, going paperless might be a good goal for you in 2013.

Google Drive makes it easy to keep all your stuff in the cloud and access it anywhere -- so you don’t have to carry around paper copies wherever you go. There are also other great apps that can help you get things done in the cloud - no printer required. This year, Google Drive is part of the Paperless Coalition, a group of organizations and products that help you live completely in a paper-free world. So whether you’re an expense reporter, invoice tracker, file hoarder, or note jotter, you can do it all without using paper.

It’s simple. Visit Paperless2013.org to sign a pledge (electronically, of course!) and invite others to do the same.

Chances are that many of you lucky readers will be unwrapping new computers, mobile phones, and tablets this holiday season. Here are a few quick tips on how you can smoothly transition all of your stuff from old devices to new ones using Google Drive.

For laptops & desktops First, you’ll want to get all your files from your old computer into Google Drive. To do this, download Drive for Mac or PC on your existing computer. To upload your files to Drive, simply drag-and-drop all your files and folders (up to 5GB free) into the new Drive folder on your desktop. Then you’ll be able to access everything on the web from any computer, including your new one. Or you can download Drive again on your new computer to sync your files and automatically store them on your new computer.

For mobile phones & tabletsUpload all of the photos and videos on your old device with the Drive mobile app for Android or iOS. Install the Drive mobile app on your new device and all your stuff will be there -- and also available to you on the web from any device.

More holiday tips & tricks For those of you planning to do any holiday cooking, here are a few other ways Drive can help you in the next few weeks:

Scan or snap a photo of a classic family holiday recipe and upload it to Drive for safe keeping and sharing.

Search for recipes that you’ve already stored in Drive. You can even search for keywords inside PDFs and photos.

Jot down a new delicious recipe right from the kitchen with Docs in the Drive mobile app for Android and iOS.

Use Sheets for your grocery shopping list. Create it on your computer at home, then pull it up on your phone at the grocery store and cross of items as you go.

Create a quick form to invite friends to your holiday get together and figure out who’s coming, what they’re bringing, etc.

For the second installment of our Apps in Google Drive series, we’re giving things a holiday twist with apps that can help you out with some (last-minute) personalized gifts. Once you install one of the third-party Drive apps below, you can use them to create a variety of one-of-a-kind gifts: your pug on a mug, your very own holiday song, or a video of this year’s biggest moments.

CafePress: Create a personalized gift using pictures stored in Google Drive. Use photos you keep in Drive to add a personal touch to hundreds of potential gifts. Just select a photo in your Drive open it with the CafePress app. Get the app

WeVideo: Make a video (fancy editing skills not required). Make a recap video of the highlights of 2012 with the photos, videos, and other files that you keep in Drive. Then add a personal touch with text, effects, music, and voiceovers. Get the app

UJam: Create new holiday tunes. Grab some sleigh bells and write your own full track with a variety of backing instruments, beats, and styles from scratch, or start with a song template. Get the app

Check out many more apps that work with Google Drive to spread some of your own holiday cheer.

Since Google Drive launched in April, millions of people have started using Drive to keep, create and share files. Starting today, it’s even easier to share with others: you can insert files from Drive directly into an email without leaving your Gmail.

Have you ever tried to attach a file to an email only to find out it's too large to send? Now with Drive, you can insert files up to 10GB -- 400 times larger than what you can send as a traditional attachment. Also, because you’re sending a file stored in the cloud, all your recipients will have access to the same, most-up-to-date version. Like a smart assistant, Gmail will also double-check that your recipients all have access to any files you’re sending. This works like Gmail’s forgotten attachment detector: whenever you send a file from Drive that isn’t shared with everyone, you’ll be prompted with the option to change the file’s sharing settings without leaving your email. It’ll even work with Drive links pasted directly into emails.

So whether it’s photos from your recent camping trip, video footage from your brother’s wedding, or a presentation to your boss, all your stuff is easy to find and easy to share with Drive and Gmail. To get started, just click on the Drive icon while you're composing a message. Note that this feature is rolling out over the next few days and is only available with Gmail's new compose experience, so you'll need to opt-in if you haven't already.Posted by Phil Sharp, Product Manager